Child and Youth Protection Programs

In the Diocese of Camden, the safe environment training program for adults who have regular contact with minors is called New Jersey Child Assault Prevention, or CAP. The Diocese of Camden requires that adults in regular contact with minors attend CAP once every five years. CAP 1 is an introduction to child abuse and assault and teaches adults what to do in the event abuse is suspected.

CAP 2 is called CAP’S Bullying Prevention Program and is a session on bullying awareness and prevention.

CAP 3 is called Cyber-Empowerment and teaches the adults about the dangers of the internet and social media and the effects on our children.

In the elementary schools, CAP is presented every year in every school. The principals send a letter to the parents informing them when CAP will be implemented. Every other year, the schools are asked to present an adult workshop for interested parents and other adults.

NetSmartz is a program of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It is an educational program for parents, children (elementary, tweens and teens), teachers and law enforcement professionals. It is an informative and interactive program with many resources Click here for NetSmartz website.

In the parishes the safe environment program for children is called Child Lures Prevention: Think First and Stay Safe. The program is based on the theory that predators use lures to distract and catch children. The program teaches our children the various lures predators use. This helps to keep our children safe.

The Cornerstones

The Cornerstones of the Child Lures Prevention program is the basic, introductory philosophy of the overall program. A few moments should be devoted to discussing the Cornerstones at the beginning of each lesson each year. Following the review of the Cornerstones, the catechist would then proceed to one of the lures being presented.

The learning objectives of the Cornerstones are:

Most people are safe most of the time

Sometimes some people who seem nice can turn violent

Those people who hurt children use “lures” to trap them

It is a crime for any adult to sexually abuse a child

It is wrong for an adult to touch a child in his/her “bathing suit zone” except for certain situations

We follow our instincts to help keep us safe from dangerous people or situations

Keeping in mind the age of the children you are teaching (from Grade One to Eight) you may summarize the above objectives in your words followed by a brief discussion.